How exactly will it happen that Broncos fans will fall in love with Brian Dawkins? It surely will happen. It’s just a matter of when. And how.

Dawkins, the jewel of Josh McDaniels’ first free-agent class as Broncos coach, made even the most hardened of NFL fans melt for 13 seasons in Philadelphia, a city not known for warm and fuzzy feelings.

Will Broncos fans fall the first time they see the normally mild-mannered Dawkins transform into his nasty game-day alter ego “Weapon X,” inspired by the X-Men comic book series?

When they watch him crawl on hands and knees through a tunnel of teammates in his first game at Invesco Field at Mile High?

Will it be when Dawkins makes his first interception as a member of the Broncos’ secondary? Or when cameras catch him counseling a teammate on the sideline? Maybe it will be when he finally figures out how he wants to celebrate touchdowns with Denver fans.

“I kind of play with my emotions on my shoulders; I just like to have a good time,” Dawkins said. “If I feel like dancing, I’m going to dance. If I feel like singing on the field, I’m going to sing on the field.

“I think the reason I connected with the Philly fans the way I connected with them is because at the end of the day, they knew that I gave everything I had on the football field, period.”

Dawkins has been a Bronco for nearly three months. For a while it was difficult to believe — for him, his family and especially for Eagles fans, who were outraged when the Broncos signed away the longest-tenured professional athlete in Philadelphia on the first day of free agency with a five-year, $17 million contract, more than double the money the Eagles offered.

“He was the guy that topped our list based on the way he performed, not based on the way his career numbers are or the aura that surrounds him wherever he is and wherever he goes, because obviously, you can get caught up in that,” McDaniels said. “But this guy is a really good football player and was one of the best safeties in the league, by far, last year.”

Eagles management, at least, didn’t seem to agree.

Green turns to orange

Dawkins and his agent negotiated with the Eagles throughout February but couldn’t agree on a new deal. When 12:01 a.m. struck on the East Coast on Feb. 27, Dawkins became a free agent for the first time in his career.

Later that day, he was on a plane bound for Denver, and on Feb. 28 he was formally introduced at Dove Valley holding up a new No. 20 jersey — in orange, not his familiar green.

“When we finally signed him, I was like, ‘Yes!’ ” said Broncos cornerback Champ Bailey, who had played with and against Dawkins at numerous Pro Bowls. “I thought, ‘Man, we need someone like that.’ ”

Fans in Philadelphia were shocked that the Eagles let Dawkins go. They flooded sports radio talk shows and Internet message boards. A columnist with the Philadelphia Daily News wrote a blog entry about Dawkins’ departure — in the form of an obituary. A stadium employee was fired for posting an angry message on his Facebook page. (Dawkins has said he will give that man tickets to the Broncos-Eagles game Dec. 27 in Philadelphia.)

Eagles coach Andy Reid said he understood he would be seen as the bad guy for letting Dawkins walk.

“I understand completely,” Reid said of the reaction in Philadelphia. “There are certain ways you can do it now. You can release a player, kind of like they did with Marvin Harrison, the Colts. Or you can actually try to get something done, and if you lose him, you end up not being the good guy, but in your heart, you know you tried to do something. And then you wish him the best of luck.

“Listen, Brian, to me, will always be a Philadelphia Eagle. Brian should always be able to walk into our office at any time, even if we’re playing him, and shake everyone’s hand and keep his head held high and know that he’s left a special legacy in Philadelphia.”

Legendary leadership

Now it’s a matter of what sort of legacy he will build in Denver. At age 35, Dawkins knows he’s in the final stretch of his career but he doesn’t believe his game is in decline. He will quickly answer that, yes, he is an every-down safety. McDaniels and Bailey both agree.

“He just had a Pro Bowl year,” Bailey said. “You don’t do that just playing one or two downs.”

Dawkins brings instant respectability to a position that was a major liability for the Broncos last season. The Broncos started six players at the safety spots, and the defense allowed 28 points per game.

But more than his on-field acumen and impressive resume — seven Pro Bowls, 34 career interceptions and 21 career sacks — the Broncos are counting on Dawkins to have a bigger impact away from the field. Dawkins is widely regarded as one of the NFL’s best “locker room” guys — a player who is a natural leader, who motivates teammates in practice, in the weight room and provides guidance to younger players.

“The thing you don’t have to worry about with that football team is finding a leader,” said former defensive back Rod Woodson, who was recently elected to the Hall of Fame. “He has that passion, that energy, that enthusiasm that comes across, and I think players feed off that. It’s hard to find a leader that can pull together every single game.”

Previous commitments — to the NFL Players Association, for example — kept Dawkins away from Dove Valley for the first couple of weeks of the offseason conditioning program, but since arriving in Denver for good in late March, he’s making himself at home in the locker room. Part one of that was meeting his new teammates and getting used to the way a new organization runs. Part two is trying to secure a second locker like he had at Philadelphia — a spot for that alter ego “Weapon X,” and a place to display the numerous Wolverine figurines he has collected over the years, mostly gifts from Eagles fans.

Eagles staffers carefully packaged them and mailed them — three boxes full — to Dove Valley, where, like Dawkins, they will have a new home.

Dawkins admits leaving Philadelphia was difficult, that he even went through a mourning period. But he is not looking back.

“I only know one way to play the game, only know one way to be for my teammates, only know one way to contribute to a football team, and that’s all out,” Dawkins said. “Guys from the Eagles, they knew that. I just want the guys here to understand that same thing.”

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